This dismal cry rings sadly in her
ear,
Through which it enters to surprise
her heart;
Venus and Adonis Lines
889-890
Right off the bat we’re starting with something that’s
pretty obscure. Let’s do a little homework. Shakespeare wrote about
thirty-seven plays (depends on who you ask; there are only 36 in the First
Folio but more about that at a later date), 154 sonnets, and a handful of other
poems. Venus and Adonis is one of the
latter. It’s been a while since I read this poem in its entirety (to be clear,
while I have read this one, there is a lot more of Shakespeare that I haven’t
read than there is that I have read) and I really don’t remember much of it. So
I started looking into Venus and Adonis
and I ended up reading all 1,200 lines of it today. And there’s some pretty
steamy stuff in there. But you’d have to read it pretty carefully to pick up on
it. It’s about Venus trying to seduce (unsuccessfully) Adonis and about how the
next day Adonis is killed by a boar while hunting and Venus turning him into a
flower. It’s based on a section of The Metamorphoses
of Ovid (which, believe it or not, I have read), which in turn is based on
the Greek mythologies. Today’s random lines are about Venus hearing the hunt
and (rightly) fearing for Adonis’s life. Interesting, but what to make of it?
Well, for starters, this is not a well-known work (at least
by your average, non-shakespearean American), let alone a well-known line. I’m
not sure if there are any particular lines in Venus and Adonis which qualify as well known. Of course, the
chances of coming up, by random selection of the total works of Shakespeare,
with a well-known line are pretty slim. Or should we say, extremely miniscule.
But whether or not it’s a well-known line, you know it now. And is it worth
knowing? “This dismal cry rings sadly in her ear, / Through which it enters to
surprise her heart;” It’s actually two lines, but I’ve decided to go to the end
of the sentence or thought with the lines I end up with. And what the heck,
it’s a good line. Nice imagery. Easily understandable (and believe me were not
gonna have that every day). So maybe we should just leave it at that.
Okay then. You’ve got your daily dose. A bit of a slow
start, but it’s only day one. Let’s just let this one go and we’ll see how
tomorrow goes. Let’s hear it one last time for good effect. Read it out loud
and see if you can enjoy the language!
This dismal cry rings sadly in her ear, through which it enters to
surprise her heart.
Yeah, that’s Shakespeare.
